The present invention relates to a suitable recording/reproducing apparatus to be applied to a master disc apparatus for producing a cutting master disc serving as an original disc used when producing large numbers of compact discs (CDs), minidiscs (MDs), etc. at music disc manufacturing factories, and in particular to a recording/reproducing apparatus which can effectively utilize empty regions of a recording medium.
When manufacturing large numbers of compact discs, minidiscs, etc. at a music disc manufacturing factory, it is necessary to prepare a recording medium for a cutting master which serves as an original disc. As this recording medium, magnetic tape is generally used. FIG. 34 is a system drawing of the major components of a conventional master recording apparatus used when producing an original disc.
In FIG. 34, 11 is a multi-channel tape recorder in which an original music signal is recorded, for which a digital videotape recorder (U-matic video tape recorder) is generally used, to produce an original audio tape on which the music signal is recorded. Since the original audio tape is multi-channel, it can switched to two channels in the master recorder 12.
The master tape is further supplied to an editing apparatus 13 and an editing process necessary for changing the format according to the type of disc to be cut and the like is performed, a master tape for final cutting is produced, and this master tape is used to produce discs (CDs, MDs, etc.) and also cassette tapes corresponding thereto at each disc manufacturing factory.
With the spread of music discs in recent years, the demand for using discs as recording mediums for original discs has increased. By using a disc as an original, original signals can be recorded linearly without compressing them and edited on one original disc without damaging them, making the original disc.
Incidentally, when using a disc as a recording medium for editing, necessary portions in information recorded on the disc can be arbitrarily indicated, and new information re-recorded using the indicated portions without damaging the recorded information.
Because recorded information is left over even after performing this kind of editing process, the information actually used for editing in the recorded information and information which is not used at all for editing are mixed.
Since information recorded on the disc is not confined to editing in the order in which it was recorded, it exists as random information, therefore it is preferable for this random information to be re-arranged in editing order.